Clandestine
by pilikani
Summary: STORY IS ON HOLD!Its Hermione’s last year at Hogwarts and she’s determined to make it a year she will never forget. Everything is going perfectly for her: she and Ron are finally together, she is made Head Girl, Harry and Dumbledore are close to defeating
1. Return to the Burrow

**Authors Note: **Ok, so this is my first fan fic. And I am not sure if it is any good so _please_ review so I know whether or not to continue posting chapters!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter but I really wish I did.

**Summary:** Its Hermione's last year at Hogwarts and she's determined to make it a year she will never forget. Everything is going perfectly for her: she and Ron are finally together, she is made Head Girl, Harry and Dumbledore are close to defeating Voldemort, and she is at the top of her class. But then, something shifts and Hermione finds herself consumed in a world of lies, passion, and the unknown. HBP not taken into consideration (except for Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione). DM/HG, HP/GW and some RW/HG

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**Clandestine **

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**Chapter One: Return to the Burrow**

Hermione Granger stared out of the window of her parent's car. It was the summer before her last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and she was on her way to the Burrow, where she would spend her last summer before living on her own. She fell out of her thoughts when she felt the car stop, and saw that they had arrived at the Burrow. Her parents helped her get her trunk out of the trunk, said goodbye and that they would see her at Christmas, and drove away. Once her parents were out of sight, Hermione turned and looked up at the oddly built house. Looking at the house, she felt a mixture of feelings. Although she had her own home and family, the Burrow felt more like home to her (with the exception of Hogwarts). With a happy sigh, she began walking up the small road leading to the house. She was about to knock on the door to announce her arrival when the door burst open to reveal a tall, gangly red head and a bespectacled boy with untidy black hair.

"Hermione!" exclaimed Ronald Weasley, who ran over to give her a hug and kiss.

During their sixth year at Hogwarts, Hermione and Ron finally realized that they were meant to be together. Since then, they were inseparable, and although they still fought over pointless things, they were content with being with one another. After several long moments, Harry coughed, causing Ron and Hermione to break apart.

"Honestly mate, couldn't you wait a little longer to say hello?" Ron said while chuckling softly. Ignoring Ron, Harry went over to Hermione and gave her a hug.

"Oh Harry! How is everything going with Dumbledore? Have you gotten any farther in defeating You-Know-Who? What about Ginny have you two finally made up?"

"Breath Hermione!" said Ginny Weasley, as she walked out of the house to greet her friend. "Harry won't tell me much about what is happening with him and You-Know-Who, but I can definitely answer the last question myself. Harry and I have finally made up and are finally back together, but we decided to keep it quiet so that You-Know-Who or his death eaters don't find out. Harry still isn't too happy about the decision but it's better than nothing."

"I'm standing right here you know."

Grabbing Harry's hand, Ginny said "I know, but it's cute when you think I forget that you're around"

Harry and Ginny walked into the house, hand in hand, with Ron and Hermione following. Harry and Ginny went to find Fred and George, who were visiting everyone at the Burrow, to set up a Quidditch match, leaving Ron and Hermione to catch up on. The two made their way up to Ron's bedroom, where they would not be disturbed, and sat across from each other on Ron's bed.

"So how has your summer been?" Ron asked, looking shyly up at Hermione.

"It was okay. I thought a lot about the future though. Do you realize that next year, we will be out of Hogwarts and on our own?" Hermione felt both thrilled and terrified at the thought. Although she was ready to start her career, she had grown accustomed to Hogwarts and being with her friends. She knew that she would still see Harry and Ron after they left Hogwarts but somehow, it would not be the same.

"I can't wait to be out of Hogwarts. I am so sick of doing work all the time and seeing that git Malfoy pick on everyone."

"But Ron, you do know that after Hogwarts, you're going to have to work, don't you? You have to do something with your life!"

"I will! I'm going to join the Chudley Canons and become rich and famous!" Ron said with a glazed look over his face, imagining his future as a famous Quidditch player.

Hermione snorted, "Surely you're joking?"

"What do you mean? You don't think I can do it? You don't think I am good enough or that anyone would want me on their team?" Ron said, becoming angry.

"No! Of course not! It's just that -"

"Well at least my dream of the future is realistic! All you want to do is start some bloody organization for the protection of house elves!" Ron yelled, standing up and glaring down at Hermione.

"Realistic? You call your dream of being a Quidditch player realistic? You can barely balance yourself on a broom and you think you can become a Quidditch champion? And at least my wanting to protect house elves is rational! They deserve to be treated fairly!

Fuming, Hermione stormed out of the room, but not before pushing Ron down onto his bed.


	2. Making Up

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**Clandestine **

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**Chapter Two: Making Up**

Ginny found Hermione sitting in the bedroom they shared, staring out the window overlooking the front yard with tears streaming down her face. After Hermione stormed out of his room, Ron had gone down to ask Harry and Ginny for help. Leaving Harry and Ron to discuss what to do, Ginny searched for Hermione, eventually finding her in her room. Ginny made her way over to her Hermione, lending her a shoulder to cry on. After five long minutes, Hermione finally spoke.

"I don't get it! I have only been here for half an hour and we are already fighting!" Hermione said, while wiping tears from her eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he will realize that he was being stupid and will come to apologize."

No sooner than Ginny said this did they hear a knock at the door. Ginny stood to open it, and allowed Harry and Ron into the room. Harry, realizing that Ron did not want to speak to Hermione with an audience present, motioned to Ginny that they should leave, shutting the door softly behind them. While Hermione stared down at the bed, picking at a loose piece of thread on her shirt, Ron moved to sit next to her.

"Listen," he said while placing his hand on top of hers. "I'm so sorry that I started a fight over something stupid. I know I could never be a famous Quidditch player, but I have been dreaming about it since I was a kid and it's hard to realise that you can't always get what you want. And I didn't mean what I said about you not being realistic about wanting to help house elves. I know it's something you love, and I just lost my temper."

Hermione could tell that Ron was being sincere. Whenever they got angry at one another, they both said things they didn't mean.

"I'm sorry too, Ron. It was wrong of me to say that you could never be a Quidditch player and I –"

"No," Ron said, interrupting her. "You were right."

"So are we okay now?" Hermione already knew that they were okay, but she felt that it was important to ask all the same.

"Of course," Ron said while pulling Hermione closer to him, giving her a kiss on top of her head.

"Can we come in now?"

Giggling, Hermione went to open the door, where Ginny and Harry were both standing.

"Were you two listening?"

"Of course we were. Harry was ready to intervene if you two didn't make up."

Everyone laughed and the four friends decided to make their way downstairs, where Mrs. Weasley was finishing cooking dinner, looking frazzled as Fred and George followed her around the kitchen.

"But mum, all it does is change the colour of the food! It doesn't change the taste or anything!" Fred said while sticking a small, colourful packet in front of his mothers face.

"No! Dinner is not a joke! We will be eating a normal dinner with normal coloured food!"

"New invention. It changes the colour of food every time you go to take a bite. Fred and George have been trying to get Mum to let them put it in the food for ages but she refuses to let them. They tried sneaking it into the food a few times but mum always catches them and she chases them around the house with a broom," Ron told Hermione.

While Fred continued to pester Mrs. Weasley, Hermione saw George move to a pot that was being stirred by a magic powered spoon, and drop the colourful packet into the pot. Mrs. Weasley turned, cast a suspicious glance towards George, and went to examine the pot. From what Hermione could see from where she was standing, the food in the pot appeared to be normal. Apparently, Mrs. Weasley did not see anything odd about the food either, because she went back to tending to the rest of the food.

Mrs. Weasley finished preparing the food shortly after George slipped the colour packet into the pot and everyone made their way to the yard, where tables were set up for supper.

Hermione forgot how wonderful Mrs. Weasleys cooking was, and as she began to smell the aromas of the food, she found that she was starving. She grabbed a piece of chicken, as well as potatoes and a piece of bread, and was about to take a bite when she heard Mrs. Weasley scream. Everyone except Hermione was laughing. Hermione stood up to see what was so funny when she saw that Mrs. Weasleys food had turned bright pink. Looking down at her own food, she saw that her food had turned a soft shade of lilac.

Apparently, every time Fred and George tried to use a colour packet in Mrs. Weasleys food, the food had changed colour instantly, causing them to get in trouble with their mother. This prompted them to create a colour packet that would not cause the food to change colours until the food was about to be eaten. After chasing Fred and George around the yard with a broom for nearly an hour, eventually causing the twins to apparate to a flat they had in London, Mrs. Weasley sent everyone off to bed, telling them that they would be going to Diagon Alley bright and early the next day.


	3. An Unexpected Occurrence

**A/N: **Special thanks to M. Anne for giving me a title for the new potions school book 

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**Clandestine **

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**Chapter Three: An Unexpected Occurrence**

The next day, everyone was awake bright and early, excited to the day that awaited them. After a rushed breakfast, Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione made their way to the fireplace. Harry, who had taken his apparition test just a few days before Hermione arrived at the Burrow, would be apparating to the Leaky Cauldron with Ron and Hermione, where they would meet Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, as Ginny had not yet learned to apparate. After waving goodbye to Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, the trio apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, where they were greeted by Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks.

"Wotcher, Harry."

"Hello Harry, Ron, Hermione," said Lupin, nodding hello to each of them. "Dumbledore asked us to accompany you through Diagon Alley. Hagrid was going to do it but something came up."

"Is everything okay?" Harry said, expecting the worst.

"Oh, he is perfectly fine. He said something about hostile flobberworms and that he wouldn't be able to meet you guys," Lupin replied. For once, Lupin did not unhealthy. Even his robes were less patched.

Laughing, the group went over to a fireplace, where they were joined by Ginny and Mrs. Weasley.

"Ready then? We'd best be going. There's a lot to do and I still have dinner to prepare. A few members of the Order are visiting tonight and I want supper prepared before they arrive," said Mrs. Weasley, who ushered the group to the back of the leaky Cauldron and tapped the bricks to open the entryway to Diagon Alley.

The streets of Diagon Alley were busy as usual, but not as many people were shopping alone. Everyone was shopping in groups of no less than three people because since the attack at the Ministry by Voldemort and his followers, everyone feared another attack. Since the attack two years before, Voldemort and his Death Eaters had laid low, but no one was sure how long it would last and feared that when they attacked, it would be disastrous. The group made their way to Madam Malkin's, where all of the children bought new robes because they had all grown at least a foot over the summer. After they were fitted for robes, they made their way to Flourish and Blott's, and bought their new school books, including _the Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7 _(and grade 6 for Ginny), and _Mind Boggling Potions of the 16th Century._ Although they had only been at Diagon Alley for an hour, and had only visited two stores, everyone was growing tired of walking, so Tonks suggested that they go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. After everyone ordered their ice cream (Hermione got cherry tart, Ron got onion, Harry got honey, and Ginny got grapefruit), they made their way to the brightly coloured tables that sat beneath striped awnings. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny sat at one table while the adults sat at a table next to theirs.

"Ugh, Ron, that ice cream smells repulsive!"

"Ginny is right Ron, I don't know how you expect me to kiss you after eating that," Hermione said while moving away from Ron, who was moving towards her to give her a kiss with ice cream on his lips. Everyone laughed and talked while enjoying their odd-flavoured ice cream.

"So Ginny, did you get your O.W.L. results yet?"

"Yeah, they came last week. I didn't do as well as you Hermione, but I didn't do too badly. I got an A in History of Magic, an E in Ancient Runes, Astronomy, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures, and an O in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Charms. Oh, and an E in Herbology as well," Ginny said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Wow, that's really brilliant Ginny! Your parents must have been so proud! And Harry told me that you had been made a prefect as well."

"Well, if she keeps at this rate, she is going to turn out just like Percy," said Ron, whose ears had gone red.

"Shut up, Ronald. You're just jealous that I scored better than you on the O.W.L.s."

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm no –"

Before Ron could finish what he was about to say, a scream came from the direction of Gringotts, which was only two buildings away from the ice cream parlour.

"Everyone, hurry! You all need to get back to the Burrow right away! Go back to the Leaky Cauldron and Floo back. I know you three can apparate but Ginny can't, and she shouldn't be alone," Lupin said before running off towards the direction of the scream with Tonks.

"Im going to see what I can do! Stay together! No matter what!" said Mrs. Weasley, who then ran off into the same direction as Tonks and Lupin.

Staring after Mrs Weasley, the trio and Ginny could see smoke rising over Gringotts, as well as a group of people in black robes and matching masks.

"Dumbledore warned me that Death Eaters may attack here. We need to get you guys out of here. I'll take you all to the Leaky Cauldron and come back to fight," said Harry, whose main concern was to get his friends to safety.

"No! Harry you must come with us. Let's go!"

Ginny pulled Harry by the arm to the Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Hermione walking quickly behind them. Diagon Alley had turned chaotic. Everywhere they turned, they saw people running and screaming. More and more people were pouring out of the shops and into the streets, running to find somewhere safe. Hermione, who had gotten a few heads behind the others, struggled to keep up because there were so many people around. She kept running, but panicked when she realised that her friends were no where in sight. She decided it best to continue towards the leaky Cauldron, as they would probably wait for her there, but was knocked backwards. Everyone who had been going towards the Leaky Cauldron had stopped going forward, and was suddenly backing up; away from something Hermione could not see. Standing on her tip-toes, she saw that more Death Eaters were approaching from this direction. It was turning into an ambush. Gasping in shock, Hermione turned and entered the nearest store, which was Flourish and Blott's, locking the door behind her. She tried to apparate back to the Burrow, but she was in such a panicked state that she could not accomplish the three D's of apparating. She knew her destination and she had determination, but her deliberation was missing. She had to find somewhere to hide and fast. She was looking for a hidden spot among the many bookshelves when she heard the door to the shop open.

"I saw you come in here little girl. Come out, come out, wherever you are. I found you!"

Hermione had tried to hide herself behind the register, but her hiding spot was not good enough to keep her hidden from the Death Eater.

"_Stupefy!"_ Hermione shouted, but her opponent quickly blocked her spell.

"Silly little girl. You should know better than to voice your spells aloud. Now, why don't you come with me and we can take you to the Dark Lord, hmm?"

"Never. I wouldn't go over to his side if it was a matter of life or death."

"Now, now. I wasn't going to hurt you, but seeing as how unwilling you are, I just might have to tempt you to come willingly. _Crucio!"_

Hermione fell to the floor. She had never experienced such pain and it just seemed to go on for an eternity until she finally blacked out.

**A/N:** Malfoy comes into the story in the next chapter! I should have it up by tomorrow. Review!


	4. Questions and Answers

**A/N: **Sorry it's late! It was harder to write this chapter than I thought it would be.

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**Clandestine **

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**Chapter Four: Questions and Answers**

Hermione opened her eyes to a headache so intense that it felt like her head was about to split in two. She sat up, wondering what happened. She looked around, her eyesight slowly regaining focus, and spotted a man in a black robe laying a few spots away from her on the floor. Upon seeing the man, she quickly remembered what happened. Death Eaters had attacked Diagon Alley and after getting separated from Ron, Ginny ad Harry, she had gone into Flourish and Blott's to hide. There, she was attacked by a Death Eater and she had been hit by the Cruciatus Curse. She heard someone cough, and her eyes snapped to a person sitting close to the stunned Death Eater.

"Malfoy! What are _you_ doing here? Oh wait, let me guess. You were here to watch your little Death Eater friends attack innocent people," Hermione said while drawing her wand and pointing it at Malfoy.

"Well, Granger, if it weren't for me, you would have been dead, so I think you should be thanking me rather than accusing me of something you know nothing about."

Hermione snorted, "And why exactly did you help me?"

"If I hadn't stunned him, he would have held the curse long enough for you to go insane or die. I would have let him kill a filthy Mudblood like you but all that would do is cause problems."

"Whatever, I need to go find Ron," Hermione said, walking past Malfoy to get to the door. Just as she was opening the door to step out, she thought she heard Malfoy say "ungrateful Mudblood." Ignoring the rude comment, Hermione made her way down Diagon Alley, towards the Leaky Cauldron where she hoped her friends would be waiting.

Diagon Alley was barely recognisable. Most of the once brightly coloured shops were scorched and destroyed. Looking up the street, Hermione could see that a fire was still smouldering at Gringotts. Everywhere she looked, Hermione saw Healers tending to the injured, and Aurors questioning those who were still on the streets. Once she reached the Apothecary, which was right next to the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione saw a group of Aurors standing watch over a group of people in black robes, tied together by a magical chain. She strode over to them, and informed them of the stunned Death Eater in Flourish and Blott's. While two Aurors went to claim the Death Eater, another one questioned Hermione.

"Did you see what he looked like?"

"Yes, he was rather large and he had a black moustache."

"Hmm. That sounds like it could be Macnair. Can't be too sure though. Did he say anything to you that sounded important?"

Hermione was about to tell him how the Death Eater was supposed to bring her to Voldemort, but she was not sure if she should until she talked to Harry or Dumbledore. Finally, she decided it was best not to say anything.

"No, he didn't say anything at all."

"Okay, well thank you for letting us know where he was. You should be going now. Diagon Alley is far from safe at the moment."

"I just have one question. What exactly happened?"

"Well, it seems as though He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wanted to display the powers of his Death Eaters to those who were not around when You-Know-Who first came to power. Some people got a glimpse of their power at the Quidditch World Cup a few years ago but they wanted their power to be fresh in every ones minds. They ambushed Diagon Alley, one group coming from Knockturn Alley, while another group came from the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. From there, they set buildings on fire and killed random people. It was terrible. By the time we got here, most of them had already apparated, but some stuck around and we got them."

"That's terrible. It has been so long since they last attacked and this time, they attacked such a busy area. Thank you for telling me what happened. I best be off."

With that, Hermione went to the Leaky Cauldron. Once inside, she quickly spotted Harry, Ron and Lupin and ran to them.

"Oh my gosh! Thank Merlin you are all alright! I got separated from you and I didn't know if you got caught in the ambush and I was just so worried!"

"Hermione! We were really worried about you too! What happened?" Ron said, looking anxiously at her. He had been a nervous wreck since he noticed she was no longer with them.

Hermione relayed what had happened, including the part where Malfoy had saved her, at which time Ron's mouth was hanging open and Harry looked very confused.

"But why would he want to help you?" Harry asked.

"Well, he said something about how killing me would cause problems but I don't know what he meant by that."

"Well, we should probably head to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley insisted we all go back but we weren't going to leave without you so Lupin said he would stay with us. Everyone is probably still really worried. You were gone for nearly three hours," said Ron.

With that, they apparated to the Burrow, anxious to be somewhere they felt safe.


	5. Dinner Guests and Unsent Letters

**A/N:** Please read the note that I left at the end of this chapter!

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

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**Clandestine **

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**Chapter Five: Dinner Guests and Unsent Letters**

Once they arrived at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley hurried over and fussed over Hermione, insisting that she get some rest before dinner. The trio made their way up to the room Hermione and Ginny shared, where Ginny was waiting for them.

"Thank goodness you're alright. These two didn't even notice you were missing until I asked where you had gone," Ginny said while pointing at the two boys.

"They didn't tell me that part. It's nice to see how much they remember me."

"We do remember you! We just thought you were right behind us," Ron said.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. What's happened happened. Listen guys, I am really tired so if you don't mind…"

"Of course. We will wake you before the guests come," Ginny said, ushering the boys out of her room.

Hermione lay down and stared at the ceiling, thinking.

"I wonder why he really saved me. I still can't believe he did. And did he really look worried, or did I just imagine it?" She blinked, her eyes growing tired. The last thing she saw before she finally fell asleep was his worried expression after she had woken up.

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"Hermione…Wake up. Dumbledore has just arrived and he wants to speak with you."

Hermione woke up to see Mrs. Weasley, who was gently shaking her awake.

"Okay, thanks Mrs. Weasley."

Hermione made her way downstairs, and we she arrived in the kitchen, she saw Albus Dumbledore sitting, talking to Mr. Weasley.

"Ah! Hermione, come. I'll just go tell the children that dinner is almost ready."

Mr. Weasley stood, leaving Hermione alone to talk with her Headmaster.

"Hello Miss Granger. I hear you have had an interesting day."

"Well, I suppose you could say that. Did the others tell you what happened?"

"Yes, and they informed me of something very interesting. That you were saved by young Mr. Malfoy?"

Looking up, Hermione saw a twinkle in his eyes. "That's right. But Professor, there is something I don't understand. When the Death Eater found me, he said that he was going to take me to V-Voldemort, and then, Malfoy said that he couldn't allow the Death Eater to kill me because that would cause problems. What does that mean?"

"Well, I believe that Voldemort may want you in order to get to Harry. By taking you, Voldemort believes that he would be making Harry weak; however, I think that he would just be making Harry stronger, by giving him even more reasons to want to defeat Voldemort. However, I believe that there may be another reason as to why Voldemort wants you. I believe that he has learned of your power, and despite the fact that you are muggle-born, he would want to use your power to help him achieve power.

"But I would never go to his side!"

"I know that, but I believe that he has come up with a way to persuade you."

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After her conversation with Dumbledore, she told Mrs. Weasley that she was not feeling well and would rather rest than go to dinner. Hermione made her way back upstairs and as soon as she entered her room, she began pacing. She knew that she should be thinking about what Voldemort could be planning to persuade her with, but all she could think about was Malfoy. She was still confused about him saving her. Dumbledore had told her that Malfoy saved her because if the curse was not lifted and she died, Voldemort's plans would have been ruined but he had let her leave the shop rather than taking her to Voldemort. And she had been sure that he had looked at her with a worried expression. Finally, she decided to write a letter to him.

_Dear Malfoy,_

_Why did you save me?_

She didn't know what else to write. She had plenty of questions but she just didn't seem to be able to put them into words. She debated writing that she knew what he and Voldemort were up to, but decided that it would be better if they did not know that she knew.

She set fire to the letter with the tip of her wand when the door opened. Ginny came in and stared at her with a questioning look on her face.

"What are you burning?"

"Um, nothing."

"Okay – so dad said that Dumbledore talked to you. What did he say?"

Hermione told her quickly.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well, I am going to pretend that I don't know what they are up to and I m not allowed to go anywhere without Harry, Ron, you, a member of the Order, or one of the teachers."

"Did you tell Harry or Ron yet?"

"No and I don't really want them to know. It will only make Ron worry and Harry would probably go off and kill Malfoy."

"Okay, don't worry, I won't say anything."

The two girls got ready for bed and while Ginny slept, Hermione stared up at the ceiling, a million questions floating through her head."

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**A/N:** Okay, so there is chapter 5. I didn't really like it but I couldn't think of what else to write. I had so many ideas of what to write for this story but none of them seem to work anymore. Anyway I have started writing another fan fiction and it's going to be so funny. I will probably concentrate more on the other one but I will still update this one. Hopefully this chapter wasn't too bad. Review!


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